Reading Faulkner: Light in August: Glossary and Commentary

Reading Faulkner Series

by Hugh Ruppersburg Emeritus University Professor of English

Explaining the world of William Faulkner's Light in August is the primary goal of this glossary. Like other books in this series, it explains, identifies, and comments on many elements that a reader may find unfamiliar or difficult. These include the basic features of Faulkner's fictional town of Jefferson and Yoknapatawpha County, colloquialisms, dialects, folk customs and sayings, farm implements, biblical verses, and geographic and demographic details. Written especially for puzzled readers, teachers of Faulkner, graduate students, and interpretive scholars, the Reading Faulkner Series books offer terms and explications that reveal the richly cultural world in Faulkner's major works. Page references throughout are keyed to the definitive editions of Faulkner published by Library of America and to the Vintage editions prepared from the Library of America tapes.

Genres: Nonfiction

340 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 1994

Reviews

[John R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This (and the other "Reading Faulkner" series from Univ Press of Mississippi) is a great companion guide to LIA. Faulkner novices and experienced readers both will benefit from this helpmate.

[Eric Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Light in August is 374 pages long, this commentary is 311 pages, not quite page for page, but close. The commentary has everything: definitions of obscure Southern slang, comments about the culture and landscape, literary theory, plot points, and all the other fruits of close reading you could hope for. Best of all, it matches up line by line with the Library of America and Vintage editions of the book, making it easy to cross-reference as you go along.

I started by cross referencing the two books page by page as I read, but gave that up after two chapters. I concluded that the best way to use this book is to read a Light in August chapter, then read the matching chapter in Reading Faulkner, at the same sitting. This succeeded for me and enhanced my understanding of and appreciation for this dark and dreadful novel.

This book is one of a series, but unfortunately the series is far from complete, only covering four novels and the collected short stories. I hope the series continues, but the copyright on this first book is 1994, making for a slow production rate. I intend to read them all, which is the best recommendation I can give.

[Ernest Ohlmeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book while I was reading Faulkner's Light in August. It proved invaluable in deciphering many of the complexities both in language and structure that the latter novel contained. I found the best method was to read a chapter of Light in August and then to read the corresponding chapter in Reading Faulkner. It helped me have a much greater appreciation of one of Faulkner's best novels. Highly recommended.